Women's Basketball: Big East now a big deal

How do you do from Blogadise City, where the play list will be all women's basketball from this day forward, with maybe one or two exceptions, if THE GAME next Sunday turns out the way I hope it will.

Before I begin today's sermon about the rise of women's basketball in the Big East Conference, here's a quick update on the condition of UConn senior forward Brittany Hunter, who missed her third straight game against North Carolina Monday because of her sore right knee.

Apparently, Hunter is still in a holding pattern and her status for Sunday's game at Notre Dame is still in question.

"I don't think there is any change. I don't think its significantly different than it has been. If it was the national championship game, Brittany probably would have played. But then there would have been the chance that she wouldn't have been able to play for the next two to three weeks," Geno Auriemma said. "We have a lot of games left and you always want to be more cautious instead of just letting yourself jump right into things.

"She was obviously disappointed that she could not play, but she felt she wasn't going to be able to play without it bothering her more than usual, based on how she felt that day. It's kind of where we've always been; you can get extremely lucky, go two weeks and play every game, or we can go two weeks and not play at all. That's what we're living with and there isn't much we can do about it."

And now, allow me to pass the collection plate on behalf of the Big East Conference.

I would encourage you to feel confident, or least to consider, getting your tickets to the post season tournament, which for the first time, in a long time, may appear to be a bargain.

If you are truly interested in the sport and the conference, and are tired of the general lack of parity and competition that has characterized much of the past, this is the best time ever.

This year's women's basketball championship tournament at the XL Center is shaping up as the most compelling because there are seven teams in the Top 20 of the NCAA's RPI and, for the first time ever, seven in The AP's Top 25. Conference teams also have 10 victories against Top 25 teams.

"This is the best I've ever seen it," Villanova coach Harry Perretta said. "The bottom teams are very good and the top teams are better than they were years ago."

If my math is correct, that's more than 25 percent of the teams from just one conference. Not bad.

No one knows how long this will last, especially now that Notre Dame has lost to DePaul and must play UConn Sunday at South Bend.

"It's a huge game for us, playing the No. 1 team in the country," Notre Dame coach Muffett McGraw said. "It's going to be an exciting atmosphere for ESPN2, with the sellout crowd there."

And Meg Bulger apparently has reinjured her knee, which means West Virginia may be in some trouble down the road.

But times have never been better, at least in terms of national recognition, for the Big East.

For instance, this is the first time Sryacuse has ever made the Top 25 in its 37-year history and Quentin Hillsman's team is quickly acquiring a reputation for being quick and mentally tough.

"It's an honor for us to be in this position," Hillsman said. "We've played really well, as of late. We are coming together. Our players have settled into their roles pretty well now. When you see that happening, you always have a chance to be successful."

Ironically, Hillsman's team may have generated more attention for their hard-fought 65-59 loss to UConn Jan. 15 at the Carrier Dome than for any of their wins.

"I would agree with that 100 percent," Hillsman said. "When you play UConn and they are beating teams by 40 points every night, you go into the game thinking you don't want to be the next team to get blown out. We played as hard as we could and I believe many applauded us for our effort. We took no moral victory from it, but it did get us a lot of notoriety."

Perretta, who continues to rebuild his program after failing to qualify for the postseason tournament last season - and really, what's the Big East Tournament with Harry around to entertain us - agrees that Syracuse is on the rise.

"I don't think they are catching anyone by surprise," he said. "They are pretty good. . .When we played them we just couldn't maintain the pressure defensively and offensively - and they could. I consider them, knowing who they have and once you see them play, legitimately pretty good."

As for other topics....

After the Huskies defeated Louisville 92-71 on Jan. 12, Cardinals coach Jeff Walz received permission from Geno Auriemma have his players and staff watch practice the next day since UConn was spending its off day in town.

Even though the Cardinals have lost four of five, and have brought in a sports psychologist to help with their free throw shooting, Walz believes it was a worthwhile experience.

"It was a good experience for our group," Walz said. "My kids knew that I was going to stop by the practice and asked if they could come along. They had the chance to see how the No. 1 team in the country practices and what their mental approach was like. I'm not sure we benefitted by all of a sudden becoming a better team, but I think it gave our players an understanding, and a first-hand look, at how hard some else works so when we ask the same from them they know, 'Ok, my coaches are just crazy, that's expected in other places, too.'"

John

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Clarification:
In my comments after the "Top 10" article, I didn't intend to imply that John shouldn't comment about the football playoff games nor about the upcoming Super Bowl. I just got tired of hearing him "bemoan" the fact that he lost his job covering them. I happen to be both a Giants & Patriot fan. Being a former New Yorker, I will be going for the Giants in the Super Bowl.